Linda Nail, her husband Jerry, and a handful of others have attended the Columbus Christmas parade each year for around 30 years.
And they don’t plan to stop this year.
“It’s on the calendar,” Nail, of New Hope, said.
She was part of a local supper club that started attending the parade and throwing a party for all members of the club. While the club has disbanded, around 10 from the group still go to the parade, setting up shop at Southern Weddings on Fifth Street. Nail and her husband own the business and invite family members and friends to the party. The originals from the club that still meet up are: Gene and Sherry Guyton, of Columbus; Mike and Deb Shelton, of Columbus; Clayton and Becky Anderson, of Columbus; and Lu and Diane Thompson, of Columbus.
“When the store closes at 5 p.m., we’ll set up for the party and everyone will bring food,” Nail said. “Once it starts we’ll go out and watch it and then come back in and have something hot to drink and then we’ll watch it coming down the street again.”
The parade, which begins at 7 p.m. Monday, has been an annual tradition for Columbus for nearly 50 years. Residents line the street and begin the Christmas celebration as decorated floats pass by. This year’s theme is “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Nail has tons of memories from parades of years past. The memories range from watching her children be in the parade to watching the next generation.
“My daughter was Mickey Mouse in it when she was in high school,” Nail remembers. “Then our youngest daughter was in competitive gymnastics so she turned flips down the street in it. My little grandson has been in it. He rides either with his church float or the Lions Club float. Like I said, my in-laws are in it on the Trinity Retirement float one year. They thought it was the grandest thing.”
One time, Nail was in it herself.
“One year on my birthday they had an Elvis impersonator in the parade and had me in the parade and I didn’t know about it beforehand,” she said, noting her husband has never taken part but does play an important role in the party.
“He has a scanner and he’ll listen and say ‘Oh here they come. Let’s go.’ Or he’ll say, ‘Oh they’re stalled at such and such street.'”
Main Street Columbus Inc. puts on the parade, and Amber Brislin, organization director, expects around 100 floats for the event.
“Actually it’s more than we had last year,” Brislin said.
The parade will begin at the Farmer’s Market, located at the intersection of Second Avenue and Second Street North, and continues south on Second Street North before turning east on Main Street and heading all the way down to 14th Street. The parade turns onto 14th Street South and heads west on College Street. The floats then hit Fifth Street South and head north before turning west on Second Avenue North to end.
“It’s the same route as the past several years,” Brislin said, noting the parade has never been canceled due to inclement weather.
“Another question people asked about is weather. I wish I had a crystal ball and knew the answer to that question, but we are going to have the parade if at all possible.”
Brislin said there is no reschedule date due to the logistics of closing the streets, and the parade will take place unless the weather creates flooding or pouring rain.
If the parade is canceled, the news will be posted on the Main Street Columbus web site, www.columbusmainstreet.com, and will have an audio update of the status of the parade at the office’s phone recording at 662-328-6305.
One group that hopes the rain stays away, but will be there regardless is the handful from the supper group.
“We’ll be coming down here Monday even if it’s pouring down rain,” Nail said.
Sam Kaye will be the Grand Marshall for the parade. He has worked in the area since 1974 with experience ranging from planning and developing the Downtown Columbus Development Plan to comprehensive streetscape and development plans for cities and towns in Mississippi.
He was the first Columbus Main Street Association president and is knowledgeable of the history of many buildings in Columbus. He has been a staff consultant for Mississippi Main Street Association since 1994 and works with several Mississippi municipalities.
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